


A Kiss that Almost Wasn't

by Bowieschick4765



Category: Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: 22 Years Later, F/M, Missed Connections, Multi, Reunions, Sexual Tension, chemistry and attraction, references to Labyrinth (movie)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-22
Updated: 2018-11-07
Packaged: 2019-01-04 07:57:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 21,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12164742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bowieschick4765/pseuds/Bowieschick4765
Summary: This was started in June last year, inspired by the warm summer, a glass of Moscato and the full Strawberry moon.DISCLAIMER:I do no own any rights to any of the characters (the REAL people) their work, music, etc.  and in no way do I mean any disrespect or harm to them or friends or family of anyone in this story.  It's just a story, that's all.Also - any character addresses or phone numbers here are purely fictional.  Some locations named are real places in NY but these are places pertinent to the story.~~~~~~~~~~~AUTHOR’S NOTE:I had always wondered about the chemistry between David and Jennifer during filming even though nothing ever happened as I'm sure a lot of other people considered it too (she was still a child by all means!).  It was obvious to me or otherwise the movie wouldn't have been so magical or have gained such cult status.  My story is about them possibility meeting years later and maybe the spark gets reignited (possibly reciprocated?)





	1. The Way Forward is Sometimes the Way Back

**Author's Note:**

> This was started in June last year, inspired by the warm summer, a glass of Moscato and the full Strawberry moon.
> 
> DISCLAIMER:  
> I do no own any rights to any of the characters (the REAL people) their work, music, etc. and in no way do I mean any disrespect or harm to them or friends or family of anyone in this story. It's just a story, that's all.
> 
> Also - any character addresses or phone numbers here are purely fictional. Some locations named are real places in NY but these are places pertinent to the story.
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
> AUTHOR’S NOTE:  
> I had always wondered about the chemistry between David and Jennifer during filming even though nothing ever happened as I'm sure a lot of other people considered it too (she was still a child by all means!). It was obvious to me or otherwise the movie wouldn't have been so magical or have gained such cult status. My story is about them possibility meeting years later and maybe the spark gets reignited (possibly reciprocated?)

The time was summer of 2008 right after the 4th of July holiday. It was pure stroke of luck that Jennifer would literally run into someone she knew and hadn’t seen for ages while on vacation with her family in Seattle. Well, semi-vacation. Her husband did have a meeting to go over a script tomorrow, but it would only be for just the one day out of five. Their sons were out with him for the day freeing her up so today she could enjoy some time alone to relax or do some shopping. She would have them with her while he was busy tomorrow and it would be doing whatever they wanted to do which meant swimming, playing video games or movies.

Walking out of an antique shop she headed in the direction of the nearest coffee shop looking down at her phone, paying no attention. Not seeing the man walking towards her almost directly in her path she bumped into him hard with her shoulder almost dropping her phone and shopping bag and started apologizing profusely before she even looked at his face.

“Jesus, I’m so sor….” barely escaped her lips before her mouth flew open in surprise.

“Jennifer? Oh my God! It IS you!” the man said in his slight English accent giving her a huge boyish grin. “You know, I kind of thought as you walked out of the shop that the person coming towards me looked an awful lot like you and it really is you! Small world isn’t it?”

“Toby? Oh Wow, look at you! You’re not a little boy anymore!” she said throwing her arms around him in a tight hug, having to raise up on her tiptoes a little as he was slightly taller than her. 

It was hard to believe it was really him. She hadn’t seen him in person since before he was a teen but there were pictures of him she had seen online much later and here he was an adult now. He still very visibly carried some features that he had as a toddler, same curls, same dimples, darker hair though.

”It is so good to see you and you’re here in Seattle of all places? I thought you were living in England”.

“Yeah, well duty calls. I have some work I’m doing here for a new sci-fi film before I go back to LA. I live in the States now, Oregon actually. Are you still living in New York?”

“Yes, right outside of Brooklyn in suburbia. We had to be close to the city and the airport for work and for the boy’s school, so we bought a brownstone close to a nice little park. You know, for the kids. Go figure, I'm a mom now" she said, chuckling. "Plus I still work when I find the right role and I do some charities that bring me into Manhattan often. It’s enough to keep me busy". Toby nodded in agreement.

She added "We're kind of here on a vacation-work thing too".

They stood there catching up on small details of each other’s lives for the next 15 minutes. Toby looked down at his watch frowning and said that he had to get back to meet the director.

“Well, this has been so very lovely and I hate to run, but before I go let me give you my number. My email address is on it too." he said as he reached around to his back pocket. "Let me know when you’re free and we will meet up for a bite when I’m in the Big Apple next month or in September.” He took out a card from his wallet and before handing it to her asked if she had a pen. She fished one out of her purse looking at him with a puzzled expression.

“I was talking to Henson back a while ago and he mentioned you in passing so I’m putting his email address on here under mine. I don’t have his phone number right off hand. Drop him a line and say Hi. He’ll love it!”

He laughed, “You’ll be a blast from the past!”

He paused right as he was getting ready to give the card to her. Scribbling again he said, “Oh, and I almost forgot, here is David’s email too. I wrote it on the back. I’m sure he’d love to hear from you” he said then winked at her.

She wondered what the little wink was for. ‘ _Wow_ ’ she thought ‘ _they still all keep up with each other and I can barely even check my email some days. Well, that all stops now_ ’ and vowed at that exact moment to renew their friendships.

Toby walked away waving to her and she walked into the Starbucks down at the end of the block and ordered a strong black coffee and cream, needing the boost. It was very nice seeing him and she was still trying to let it all sink in.

Sitting by the window in the coffee shop, she took the card out of her purse and looked at David’s email address on the back, running her right index finger along his name. Should she contact him after all these years? What if he didn’t want to talk to her? It would crush her if that was the case. Would his wife care if they did talk? ‘ _This is ridiculous_ ’ she thought ‘ _why would she care?_ ’ and immediately wondered if it would dredge up old feelings she had from back then. What harm could it do? They were after all friends for God’s sake. He probably had no idea what an incredibly massive crush she had on him anyways. It went on for years. He was much older than her - over 20 years really, so how would that have worked out? She had to laugh at herself for lapsing into this moment of silliness.

Ever since the internet really gained popularity in the late nineties and she began to first use it, out of curiosity she did her first search on his name, and voila! - up popped about a million articles and pictures. She was instantly mesmerized.  He still had that perfectly angled face that could have only belonged to him.  Almost angelic.  Something was different though and she couldn’t quite put a finger on it.  It took a minute more of inspection to figure it out - it was his smile. In the place of his perfectly imperfect smile there were new straight, very white veneers instead of his unique canines and incisors and it made her a little sad. She missed his old smile. It was what she remembered the most about him next to those eyes she could never stop staring into or tear herself away from. There were several times those eyes made her forget her lines when they worked together and it made her remember how she could almost die from embarrassment.  No wonder she fell so hard for him then.  Who wouldn’t if they were in her shoes? He had charmed everyone on the set and they were all under his spell.

The more current articles and pictures of him displayed him smiling happily with his wife and a few years later with his daughter and she felt a little twinge of something strange and foreign.  An emotion she hadn’t felt in a long time. Jealousy maybe? She couldn’t help it - he was her first huge teenage crush and meant a lot to her.  Well, who doesn’t have very fond memories of their first love? She reminded herself that she was happily married now with children of her own and so was he.  Still she couldn’t help but feel that he may have liked her too just a little back then. Maybe it was wishful thinking but she was convinced that there was some sort of deep cosmic chemistry between them and had felt that way for all of these years.

When filming was over and she didn’t get to see him anymore except occasionally on MTV videos, she wrote him letters while back in high school and he would answer every one when he could, but she ALWAYS got a response from him. Sometimes it took a little while but he did write back.

Some girls in her class became very envious of her because they’d write him too but never heard back and began to treat her differently. It earned her an undeserved reputation as “the snooty star that was too good to talk to common people” and at first it bothered her but she figured out quickly that she didn't need any of them. There were also classmates too afraid to approach her because of the rumor mill but if they just would have taken a chance and talked to her they would have seen that she was genuinely friendly. Luckily there were a few girls she could consider true friends and still kept in touch with a handful of them. 

Also each year on her birthday up until she was 20, he would send her a card or flowers always wishing her well but it stopped somewhere around ’92. She bought all of his records and even went to a couple of his concerts in her early 20’s incognito, never using her celebrity status to arrange to go backstage to talk to him though she was photographed a few times and it made it into the tabloids. She often wondered if he knew she was there. Surely he did. The years started to slip by and life moved on but he was still there fondly living in the back of her mind and heart.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The hotel room was empty and quiet when she returned later in the afternoon. The boys were still out so she took advantage of their absence with a very long shower enjoying the silence before they would all three come bustling in. She’d have to get the children cleaned up so they could go to dinner.

Still in her robe, she was blow-drying her hair when the door opened to the noise of two rowdy boys running straight in to their adjoining rooms in the large suite. Her husband came sauntering in kissing her cheek and asked about her day as he prepared to undress to take a shower. 

"How was your shopping excursion? Did you find that old china pattern you've been looking forever for?" he asked.

"Unfortunately no. I guess I'll have to keep looking. Are you excited about your meeting?" she asked, rolling the cord around the dryer to put it away.

"Yeah" he said offhandedly as he unbuttoned his shirt. "Though I'm sure it will be a standard agenda and utterly boring after the first 10 minutes pass. You'll probably have more fun with the boys than I will there. It's just work."

She took that opportunity to tell him about randomly meeting Toby and how they planned on having lunch when he came to New York. She also casually mentioned that she got his and Brian’s email addresses. He managed to look a little surprised with one raised eyebrow but uninterested at the same time.

She never told him that she also had David’s email address and felt a small pang of guilt for hiding that important fact from him. They never kept secrets from each other but maybe this one might be better if kept quiet. David was a somewhat sensitive subject to her husband and it made her laugh that he seemed a little insecure. There was always a bone of contention when it came to him and the running joke was that after starring with David that Jennifer developed a “type” of man she liked early on – hot, blonde and English and Paul just happened to be that. He told her that he always wondered if he was her David-substitute. Well they both had the similar bone structure and fair hair and eyes, with the exception that David's eyes were a bit more, shall we say, extraordinary.

Later when the boys were tucked in and tuckered out in their rooms they went to bed and she tossed and turned, hoping not to wake her husband sleeping soundly beside her. They still had two more days of vacation but she could not wait to get back home and email everyone. This was something she wanted to do when she had better time to prepare - and when she was alone. The days would drag by slowly until they were on the plane from Seattle heading back to JFK and back to the big old house she loved so much.

It was 3 AM by the light of the bedside clock. Getting out of bed she put on her thin short robe over the tank top and shorts she wore and walked out on the balcony deciding to have a smoke and think. It was a habit she picked up from a movie she did and very rarely smoked if EVER and for some reason she felt the need for one tonight. She always kept a pack in her purse just in case the need hit her. Paul couldn’t stand the smell of it but she knew if he woke he would know what she was doing and wouldn’t interrupt her. She really wished for a glass of wine then there wouldn’t be a need for the nicotine. A nice glass of red wine or a brandy would help her sleep.

Putting her feet up in the chair she rested her arms on her knees then lowered her chin down on her arms, cigarette perched between her fingers, and looked out over the city at the lights, sighing. Lifting her head up, she took a long draw off of the cigarette and exhaled slowly.  Nostalgia crept up and she started out humming then sang softly.

“And I’ll be there for you… As the world falls down”.

It was beginning to softly rain as it always seems to do in Seattle and light mist was carrying in to the balcony wetting her face and body making her chilly even though it was summer. She crushed out the barely smoked cigarette and walked back inside, brushing her teeth then slipping back into bed. Her sleeping husband had no clue she had even left the bed, much less smoked as he turned over putting his arm around her protectively. She was glad that he didn’t know that David crossed her mind again and that she planned on reaching out to him. Seeing Toby it seemed had started it up again.

‘Two more days’ she thought. ‘Two more days’


	2. God Bless the Internet

The last days of vacation were spent sightseeing and spending quality family time. They really needed this since Paul told Jennifer that he had accepted the movie role right before the plans they made for vacation were solid. She was a little peeved at the time that that his announcement came when they were supposed to be taking a family trip – the first real one since her youngest was born. It would be a matter of weeks before he would be away on location filming. They wouldn’t see much of him until the movie was done if they even saw him at all and she wanted the boys to spend as much time with their father as possible. There would be daily phone calls so the boys wouldn’t miss him as bad. She was definitely going to miss him. Grimacing, there was the sudden thought about how it was going to be weird getting used to sleeping alone for several months. She would have to get used to sleeping in the middle of the bed to compensate for his empty side and reminded herself that Paul went through the same thing while she worked - a total of two months away, but that had been at least a year or less ago. She had actually finished working on 2 films that would be released later that year. In the entertainment industry, work-related separation just comes with the territory and there are sacrifices made for both parties as well as the children.

The time passed much too quickly and here they were now walking down the ramp to board the plane home. Hopefully they wouldn’t be sitting on the tarmac for too long since a certain little someone was getting restless in the taxi ride to the airport and would be a matter of time before showing his irritability. She was just ready to get moving. The time difference would put them arriving in New York not too far from dinnertime so after everyone was fed and cleaned it would be late enough that they could all get to bed and catch up on their rest. Jet lag was a bitch.

Being a humble couple they didn’t opt for first class and surprisingly enough they weren’t approached by fans or hounded by paparazzi. They tried to be as inconspicuous as possible and ‘blend in’ with the crowds coming and going in the terminal and on the plane. Either no one took notice or they were just respectful of the family’s privacy and it was well appreciated by both of them.

Jennifer slid into the row of plush, upholstered chairs taking the window seat, placing the boys between her and Paul. He took the outside seat to curb any mischievousness – not that either one of her children weren’t well behaved, but boys will be boys especially at 5 years and 11 years old. This was a pretty long flight with no layovers so they could watch the movie later and fingers crossed, it would keep them entertained when they got bored until landing.

Everyone was settled in, the boys were all secured in their seat-belts and as the in-flight safety demonstrations began she tucked her hair behind her ears, tilted her head back against the headrest and let her mind wander off.

“… _and if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask one of our crew. We hope you have an enjoyable flight and thank you for choosing American_.”

Her mind still wasn’t focused on the disembodied voice on the intercom at all until she caught the last of the greeting and noticed her husband was staring at her.

“Are you OK babe?” Paul asked, a look of concern on his face. She turned to look at him not realizing he had been speaking to her. “I just asked if you wanted me to get you something when the cart rolls through and you spaced out on me”.

“Sorry, just tired I guess” she said. “I’ll take some bottled water please”. Changing her mind she added “Oh, wait, no. I’ll have coffee. I don’t want to be sleepy before we even get close to home. Thank you”.

Paul nodded. Apparently her answer appeased him and he nonchalantly looked back down to the magazine he had brought to read and began to flip through the pages.

The flight ascended smoothly and there was very little to no turbulence after they leveled off. Her gaze strayed out the window and soon she was lost in thought. Her memory kept rewinding back to seeing Toby after what felt like a thousand years then back to being a teenager again, working with David and the lovely memories that were brought back made her smile.

For the next few hours she was pensive but managed to rest her eyes for a few minutes despite the strong coffee until the captain’s landing announcement brought her out of her daze.

“ _Ladies and gentlemen we are on the final approach and have just been cleared to land at JFK_ …..”

She was almost home.

  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back at home the family got back into their normal routines over the next couple of weeks. The boys were in day camp for a couple of weeks before they’d return to school towards the end of August, so Jennifer was home alone for pretty much the duration of the mornings and afternoons until it was time to pick them up. Their schedule worked out perfectly because today there was a luncheon meeting she’d have to attend for one of the children’s charities she co-chaired and being pressed for time, would need to leave within the next 45 minutes. Being dressed but feeling like something was missing, a look in the mirror told her she needed color on her lips. That was usually the last touch of her usual beauty ritual, especially for something formal but today she wasn’t as focused for some reason. Deciding that only one color would work perfect with her fair coloring and with what she wore, she tore into her purse to find it cursing when she didn’t right away.

‘Damn, where is it? It never fails” she said aloud, groaning ‘when I’m in a hurry to get somewhere I can never find anything’. Then it hit her where it might be.

They had long since unpacked, but the handbags that she had carried on the trip were hastily put in the closet the next day with the shoes she had taken. Retrieving one of the bags, Jennifer took it over to the edge of the bed and started rummaging around inside of it.  Not finding the tube of lipstick she wanted, she went back to the closet for another one of the purses she had taken.   Reaching on the shelf she knocked over the little black clutch she always carried when she went shopping, spilling its contents onto the floor. As it fell over a small card fluttered down almost as in slow motion, her eyes following its descent. Picking it up, she saw it was the business card that Toby had given her. Was she THAT busy that she forgotten she had it? Once they were home she had pushed it to the back of her mind as life resumed.

There they were, all three email addresses. Biting her lip and tapping the bottom of the card against her palm it didn’t take but a minute for her to walk into the office connected to their bedroom and log into her email. She decided to email Toby first - just sending a quick blurb to touch base. When she had more time Brian would be next……and then David.

From: Jen C.  
Subject: Catching up  
Date: August 4, 2008: 9:42  
To: Toby F.

Hey Tobes! (yes, I can still call you that. You’ll always be Tobes to me!)

It was so good to see you last month.  It made me realize just how much time had went by!  Let me know when you’re in NYC. The boys are back in school soon and I will have plenty of time for a good, long lunch. My treat! We have some catching up to do!

Love,  
Jen

She hit “send” and the email was on its way to Toby. Heading out the door to her luncheon she smiled. It felt great to be back in touch. Well, this was a start. Step one!

And she still forgot all about the lipstick.


	3. Little by Little, Day by Day

The Children’s Foundation luncheon was a success and her speech was flawless but Jennifer’s head stayed in the clouds most of the day. How could she have forgotten her lipstick before she walked out of the house? Behavior like this wasn’t like her as she normally was very focused and level headed. Halfway to the venue she realized that she didn’t put any on before she left and had to resort to running to the nearest Duane Reed’s to grab something quick. Not exactly the peachy color she always gravitated to but it worked in a bind. Sending the email earlier it seemed had made her a little giddy and of course her thoughtlessness resulted in some unladylike words towards herself for letting it slip her mind. She was surprised she even wore shoes out of the house! It took a few days after reaching out to Toby for her to actually ‘land’. The thought of talking to her old friends again made her happy and apparently very forgetful.

More than a couple of weeks had passed and she hadn’t heard from Toby which was a slight disappointment, but he was busy and she’d have to be patient. The boys had started back to school that week and one morning after dropping Kai off to middle school and Stellan to Kindergarten she was back at home upstairs doing some laundry. Turning on the radio and turning up the volume, the upbeat sounds of the 80’s flooded the room putting a little skip in her step. She unloaded the dryer and took the basket over to her bed, dancing all the way there to fold clothes. Picking up a shirt she stopped dead in her tracks, head turning slightly to the left looking devilishly over her shoulder and as if guided by an unseen force went straight to the computer. Logging in there was a surprise waiting on her. She squealed with delight when she saw the name pop up in her inbox.

From: Toby F.  
Subject: RE: Catching up  
Date: August 20, 2008: 23:42  
To: Jen C.

Hi Jenny! (I can still call YOU that you know, lol)

Great running into you again (and I mean that literally)! I have missed you lots over the years but we can talk to each other more frequently now that we can reach out either here or by phone. It looks like I’m probably going to be spending a lot more time than I thought on the East Coast so we can see each other quite a bit too.

I’ll be in the big city around the third week in September and will take you up on your lunch offer! Next one’s on me though!

You have my number on the card I gave you so give me call anytime you want to. Let me know when you’re free and we can arrange a day and time.

Looking forward to seeing you "big sister"!

Ciao,  
Toby

Damn! He emailed her two days ago! Now she’d be checking her email furiously every day like an excited teenager would. Deciding not to bother him so quickly after receiving his response she’d call him when the time got closer and they could set a time. She knew the perfect place to take him in the East Village.

Café Orlin was a quaint and cozy little café she discovered one day while visiting her friend from college who lived in the city plus it was just right down the block from her loft. The cafe was right off of Second Street and St. Marks Place. The food was absolutely fabulous and the atmosphere was too. It was THE perfect place to have a nice, quiet lunch with him and no one would disturb them. The weather had been nice enough to eat outside if they wanted to since the heat of summer was giving way to Fall just a little.

She typed a quick response back and hit ‘send’ standing up just as the harmonies in the first few bars of a very familiar song started on the radio making her eyes light up. She stood there shaking her head as it played. Perfect!

“….put on your red shoes and dance the blues”

The singer’s silky baritone voice filled the room and she gave a little laugh shaking her head again. “Only you David....only you.”

“…under the moonlight, the serious moonlight”

It was like a sign from above!

  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This weekend would be the last one Paul would be spending there at home for a while as it was time for him to go work. He’d be leaving Monday and start shooting in California that week. Getting him packed made her feel really sad but at least the timing worked out to where it would be after the boys started back to school towards the end of the month. He definitely wanted to be there to take them their first day just as his proper English father did with him when he was a little boy. It was his thing, one of his traditions.

Over dinner that night she tried to not dwell on him leaving. Refereeing a spat between her sons sitting across the table from each other in the meantime, she told him about the emails between her and Toby and how they’d be talking more and having lunch.

“Just you two?” he asked nonchalantly, wiping his mouth with a napkin, but she could see the gears in his head working overtime.

“Yes, of course ‘just us two' darling" and laughed. "Jeez, suspicious much? He’s working in Manhattan and will have some free time. Besides, he is still sort of like a baby brother to me so why not? I haven’t seen him in eons.”

He raised one eyebrow.

“Jealous?” she asked, baiting him.

"I’ll show you how jealous I can be a little later tonight” and winked at her playfully which caused the older boy who was about to eat a mouthful of mashed potatoes to roll his eyes and say “Eww, gross!”

She made arrangements with their normal sitter Emmy to have the boys watched that Saturday night so she could have a date night with her husband, their last one for a long time, but tonight was just a normal family mealtime. It was nice and peaceful once the boys were back on the straight and narrow after being threatened with spankings if they didn’t behave at the table. That’s all it took was ‘the look’ and the promise of a smarting backside to get them in check.

Dinner was done, dishes were clean and the boys were settled in for the night. Paul never got around to making good on his promise to show her just how jealous he was after they slipped into bed so they kissed each other good night and drifted off. No talking, no making love. Just blissful sleep.

The next night they did make love. Date night went extremely well as she tried to make every moment count. She made reservations at a very nice restaurant and they dined and danced for a few hours, returning to a very still house – no lights but from the television in the Family Room. The boys were in bed and Emmy had drifted off to sleep on the couch watching a movie. After the sitter had been paid and was driving down their street, Paul sprinted upstairs, slipped up quietly behind his wife and kissed her bare shoulder, unzipping the dress she wore until it slid to the floor in a pool of emerald silk.

“Now let me show you how jealous your husband can be” he whispered in her ear. "I promise you'll never want anyone else but me".

' _OK. What was that all about?_ ' She didn't bother to mull his remark over, but tilted her head back giving in to the sensations as Paul kissed her neck then turned her around to kiss her deeply.

His touch sent exquisite shivers down her body as they made their way to the bed trailing clothes all the way there. They made love slowly. Jennifer’s mind drifted off somewhere and in her imagination it wasn’t Paul but a certain someone else she had been thinking of lately touching and kissing her. She knew it was wrong but as long as it was in her mind and she never said anything what harm could it do? It was her fantasy after all and she’d been having it for years, but that’s all that it was.  It did give her some of the best orgasms she ever had and tonight was no exception. There were times she was scared she might scream his name instead of her husbands. That wouldn’t go over well!

  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning the sun streaming in the window woke her up early and she grabbed her robe and headed downstairs to make coffee leaving her husband sleeping soundly. The boys would be up soon and would need breakfast but for a little while she could enjoy her coffee in silence. Sitting at the table she decided that tomorrow morning she’d email Brian to say hello and then there would be one more person to contact but she’d hold off for a while before doing that. First order of business was to take the boys to school and drop Paul off at the airport. They didn’t need to see her get teary eyed when she watched him walk through the gate to board the plane.

Paul came down and she didn’t hear him walk into the Kitchen behind her. Grabbing his cup he poured his coffee and walked over to his wife who was still deep in thought.

“Penny for your thoughts”.

“Oh hey, I didn’t hear you come in”. She looked up at him and he kissed her on the forehead.

“Obviously not. You were staring a hole into your coffee. I’m guessing you’re sad because you’re really going to miss me.” Smiling, he walked back to the counter for cream and sugar.

“Well yes, we’re all going to miss you terribly!” Looking mischievously at Paul she said. “And after last night didn’t I prove how much I would? See, you don’t have to worry. I’m not going to run away with Toby while you’re gone”.

“He’s not the one I have to worry about” he winked at her and chuckled. She knew exactly who he meant with that comment. “I won’t be away that long, I promise. I’ll be home before you know it”. It would sure feel like he’d be gone forever.

The next morning dropping him off at the airport, her eyes welled up with tears as they kissed and said their goodbyes. She watched him until he was completely out of her sight before she turned to leave.   It took her until the next day to get around to emailing Brian.

Step two!


	4. Everyone Says Hi

The previous evening was a bit somber and quiet for Jennifer more than it was for the boys. Trying to think of a way to keep them preoccupied so they wouldn’t miss their dad so much or get on her nerves was easy. A trip in to town for pizza did the trick for the time being. She just never understood the charm of a restaurant with an enormous rat as its mascot and animal band as its entertainment. The place was borderline creepy to her even when she was a kid. To this day she hated anything animatronic - puppets were an exception, but they absolutely adored coming there especially to play all of the games. It must be a boy thing for sure. One thing unavoidable was she’d be leaving there with a massive headache either from the extremely loud noise from screaming children or the stress of the day – probably some the last one but definitely more of the first. It was a good thing when they returned home that the boys were tired out by 7 PM and ready for bed. For that she was thankful.

After showering, standing over the bathroom sink still draped in a towel, Jennifer brushed her teeth then popped two ibuprofen tablets with a sip of water. She leaned in to the mirror examining her face looking for any telltale signs of wrinkles. If she were to come face to face with David again she surely didn’t want to look like a tired old lady. She was only 38 and so far her skin was still in noticeably great shape so it lifted her spirits a little. She found herself looking forward to seeing him again and smiled at her reflection then walked in to the bedroom. Slipping into one of Paul’s old, worn out concert t-shirts she slid in between the soft, cool sheets of her bed noticing how it really felt larger and lonelier than it ever did before. She’d have to keep busy and keep her mind off of missing Paul. Sighing, she closed her eyes and was asleep within 10 minutes of lying down.

Morning came too early but she was up and ready to start a brand new day. She took the boys to school and headed back home to go over some project paperwork from the charity. Sitting down at Paul’s large mahogany desk she spread the papers out in front of her ready to write but wasn’t ready to delve into them just yet. Too many distractions! Tapping a pencil against her lips, she tried hard to focus on work but decided first things first and typed out an email to Brian before she procrastinated and forgot. She was pretty sure that Toby had talked to him and told him about their fortuitous run-in but wanted to make to mention it in case Toby hadn’t. She didn’t want to catch him off guard and confuse him by sending something from out of left field especially since it had been so many years since they had seen each other, much less even talked.

From: Jen C.  
Subject: Hello Stranger!  
Date: August 26, 2008 9:10  
To: Brian H.

Hello Brian,

I’ll bet you’re surprised to hear from me since it’s been like forever, huh? I’m not sure if you knew, but I ran into Toby last month when I was on vacation in Washington state (yeah, I know, how wild is that?) and he gave me your email address. I’ve been crazy busy and am just now getting around to writing you. If I had your address I would have contacted you sooner, but Toby has rectified that, so here we are and now we’re back in touch.

I think last time I saw you was at your father’s funeral what, about 17-18 years ago? I still think about him sometimes and remember him for being such a wonderful man. He has been truly missed. On a more positive note, I hope everything is going great for you and your family.

Not sure if you come to New York at all, but if you do let me know and we’ll meet somewhere. I’m meeting Toby in the next couple of weeks when he’s in town. You can call me anytime at 917-555-0923. It would be great to see you again after all of these years. 

Hugs,

Jen

 

Hitting ‘send’ Jennifer smiled feeling very accomplished. She was now back in touch with all but one person and realizing that made her a little nervous. Leaning back in the creaky chair she crossed her arms then nervously bit her thumbnail. The next email sent would be to David and all of a sudden her brain quit working - what she would say to him? ‘ _I hope I don’t fall all over myself and sound like an idiot_ ’ was the first thought. This man was a damn icon for God’s sake! Whatever it was that she’d write had better be good and would take a while to plan it out before writing it. Busying herself with her charity work for the next couple of hours she stopped long enough to grab a sandwich and would work until it was time to pick up the boys.

It took Jennifer 4 days of scribbling and crossing out notes out on a pad of paper before working up the nerve to sit down to send David an email. She decided it needed to be short, sweet, to the point and not sappy. She was an adult now and better sound like one! The boys were in bed having already talked to their father earlier and here she was up pretty late on a Sunday night. Normally being in bed way before 11 PM she was sitting in the dark in front of the computer, its light and the dim light from the small banker’s lamp the only thing illuminating the room. Lightly clicking her nails on the desk she stared at the screen, then at the notepad beside the keyboard still drawing a blank. ‘ _So, this must be writer’s block_ ’ she thought. Missing Paul’s presence a lot this week made adjusting a little harder. Wondering what to write David didn’t help her anxiety.

‘OK, you can do this’ she said out loud, placing her fingers on the keyboard and started to type before she chickened out.

From: Jen C.  
Subject: Hey, Guess who?  
Date: August 31, 2008 23:50  
To: David J.

Hello David,

It’s been such a very long time since we’ve seen each other or talked.  I’ve thought about you often and hope that you and your family have been doing well.

This is the first opportunity I have had to re-connect with you. I’m not sure if you knew, but I was out of town a few months ago on vacation and just happened to run into Toby of all people, which was a very nice surprise. He gave me your email address and encouraged me to reach out. I hope I’m not intruding by contacting you since I know you are always very busy. My little trip down memory lane just made me wonder how you were.

Well, it’s late and I need to get to bed. Hope to talk to you soon.

Sincerely,

Jen 

 

“Sincerely” she said aloud, laughing softly at herself. “How formal was that?” She must have read and re-read it half a dozen times still not sure each time whether it sounded right. Reluctantly hitting ‘send’ she looked away scrunching her nose up at the same time she pressed the button. She did the very same thing every time she got a shot at the doctors office, but that was painless as compared to emailing David right now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Several hours later and several miles away David had already gotten up at 6 AM and was working on his second cup of coffee. Looking out over the city skyline from an east facing window of their penthouse the sun was just now coming up. Its coral colors peaked on the wide horizon and reflected off of skyscraper windows never ceasing to amaze him. Normally a night owl, he turned in early last night just like he had been doing for weeks and getting up right at the crack of dawn. Fatigue was becoming a familiar thing to him. Being barely over 60 now he knew his body couldn’t take very strenuous days or schedules so he took everything at a slightly slower pace. He quit touring a few years ago after having heart attack and started taking his health and time with family more seriously. It still didn’t stop him from having plenty of projects going on all the while. His creative mind never slept.

His daughter would need to be walked to school shortly and that would get him out of the house. Normally his wife was already gone after he’d return as she usually was up pretty early every day attending to her business and if he wasn’t writing or painting he’d be out browsing book stores or just taking a leisurely walk through the park. Still having some time to kill he sat down at his desk in front of the laptop. Taking a sip of coffee, starting his usual morning routine, he logged in to check his email.

The first message that popped up in his inbox was from Jennifer and his stomach felt fluttery seeing her name. He halfway expected to hear from her earlier since Toby had told him a few weeks before. It wasn’t just out of the blue, but nonetheless actually startled him a little before a huge smile spread across his face. She had sent it about 2 hours after he had retired to bed. It made him happy to think that they were on the same time zone because if he wanted to meet with her it wouldn’t be an impossible feat.

He had to read the email twice. Although he had given up cigarettes years ago, it didn’t mean he still didn’t crave them and all of a sudden he really wanted one this morning. If he was feeling a little nervous one usually would calm him and he caught himself several times reaching in his pocket for a pack that was not there. ‘Damn’ he swore under his breath. Seeing her email made him feel like he was still in high school and finding out that the most popular girl in school liked him.

Every now and then he’d pull out an old trunk where he kept memorabilia - things from his tours and movies - and look back through everything with a sense of nostalgia. He had kept a lot of things from the movie. One of the most cherished items was a publicity still of both of them from the ballroom scene. She was so beautiful and acted very mature it was hard to forget she was so young.

It had to have been at least 20 years since they last had spoken. David had thought of her fondly over the years recalling that there was an awards ceremony back about 6 years or so ago that they were both attending at the same time. Knowing she’d be there he looked for her and wanted to talk but somehow they missed each other which left him disappointed that he didn't even catch a glance of her. He and his family kept a low profile for many years only attending public functions occasionally but when he found her name on the attendance list as a guest, he decided that he and his wife would attend and he’d take a chance to see her and hopefully get to talk. Sadly after that there weren’t many opportunities to have such chance meetings.

The tide had turned and now there was another chance so he had to find a way to make it happen.


	5. Missed Opportunities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> January 8, 2018 - Today is David's 71st Birthday and as I write I am listening to his music and of course, crying like a little baby. The real hurt will set in about 2 days from now and I'm sure I'll be a blubbering mess. How can it be two years already when it still feels like yesterday? He is so very missed!

Jennifer was a little edgy for the next three days. Here it was Wednesday and after checking her email as often as she could, a frown now crossed her face because there was still no response from him yet. She wasn’t sure if it was a good sign or bad but kept reminding herself of that old adage “ _a watched pot never boils_ ”. He was a busy man and probably had better things to do than read sappy emails from a formerly besotted teenager, but surely he would get back to her eventually because that’s the kind of person he was. Her letters years ago to him were always answered politely and very cordially, but of course he would have to be that way then because she knew he still saw her as a child. After reading her email she hoped that he didn’t think it was silly.

Looking back down at her phone, she tossed it in her purse to resist picking it up again to check it. Well, there was plenty she could do to keep herself busy that was for sure. The boys would definitely have her running. She had to attend her oldest son's school science awards early Friday evening and of course there was also another charity meeting that demanded her presence and she’d have to go into SoHo tomorrow so she needed to get prepared. So much to do!

Back in the city on Thursday morning, David dropped his daughter off at school early and strolled towards Washington Square Park. The green-space was on his way to where he’d check out some books at one of the stores he frequented in Greenwich Village. There were days after he’d purchase a few books or magazines (mostly music ones) that he would come to sit on a park bench incognito and have some untroubled reading time or just people watching. He loved observing everyone passing by him and the fact that soon it would be cooler suited him just fine. It was still warm yet considering it was the first week of September and even though he was dressed in jeans, a baggy olive green t-shirt and a Panama hat he still broke a sweat across his forehead and under the nose pieces of his black sunglasses. Today he carried a small pocket notebook with him instead of the laptop bag he usually had slung across his shoulder. It was a bit cumbersome and today he wanted to travel lightly. He had been scribbling in the notebook for the past 2 days. It was a little complicated for him trying to figure out how to answer the email he received from Jennifer Monday morning without sounding like the huge dork he knew he could be sometimes. There were strings of sentences, some marked through, some not. Lots of words pieced together.

Before reaching the bookstore he slowly walked up Waverly taking in the bustle of people coming and going absolutely loving his anonymity. No one had any idea who he was or that they were passing a rock legend - a man who played for millions of people, made several albums and lived in several different countries. Catching the strong coffee aroma wafting from the cups that a couple who passed him on the sidewalk carried, it made him suddenly want some. Coco usually either brought him some when he was working or met him on some mornings and they would have coffee or lunch but not today. Starbucks was not his preferred place for morning java as he frequented more low-key establishments, but it smelled so good that he couldn't help but duck in get some. After placing his order he walked over to a table in a corner in the back-right side of the room and sat, getting out of the way of the crowd, waiting for his name to be called. He opened the notebook and was re-reading his notes for the millionth time.

Jennifer had gotten her neighbor to drop her boys off at school so she could get a very early start to avoid the heaviest traffic heading towards 6th Avenue. Normally she would have a driver take her there but she wanted the break and being in the car was like a mini vacation. Nothing for a while but her thoughts and the music on the radio, but the closer she got to her destination, the music would be drowned out by a thousand honking horns. Now she remembered why she lived outside the city. Thankfully parking would be no problem so there’d be no circling the block a million times to find a spot. The meeting was going to be held at a church close to the park and the spots were reserved. Looking in her purse she saw that she had forgotten upon leaving home to bring enough money with her so she needed to stop by an ATM - luckily there was one right by the Starbucks close to where she needed to be. Maybe after the meeting she would walk over to the park and just put her feet in the grass, relax and forget the world for a few moments before going to get the boys. It was a grand idea. Arriving at least 20 minutes before anyone else, she parked then walked down to the busy crosswalk towards the ATM right along with the throngs of people on their way to work.

Retrieving her money she tucked it in her clutch and was about to walk back down to cross the street again and the strong, pungent smell of coffee hit her nose and reminded her that she didn’t have any yet. A nice fat-free latte would be just what she needed! Of course there would be some brought in when the meeting started but since she hadn’t eaten anything for breakfast yet her stomach rumbled reminding her that it was empty so waiting was not an option. Can’t have it making noise during the presentation! How embarrassing!

Making an about-face and strolling back to Starbucks, she walked up to the counter, placed her order and walked to the right side of the counter taking out her phone to check again. Still there was nothing from David. There was that frown again! Paul had sent a quick email with some pictures and she smiled. It made her really miss him even more but also feel a little pang of guilt to know that secretly she was excited about talking to and maybe seeing David again. Only half listening, the barista called out each customer’s names and one by one they got their orders and left. There were still quite a few people in the store – a steady stream coming and going.

“Bob Jones!” the tall man with the goatee behind the counter yelled out and David looked up after hearing his informal moniker called. No one recognized him using an abbreviated form of his real name - he had a few different aliases, cryptic ones, especially “Sailor” that he would use and no one ever batted an eye twice about it.  Jennifer wouldn't have paid any attention either hearing it. She had her back turned and never saw the lanky man dressed in the olive t-shirt and jeans walk up, take his drink, pay and start to turn to leave.  He almost made it to the exit door to the right but hesitated, stopping to put down his cup and scribble a random thought in the notebook.

“Jenny Lynn!” he yelled 15 seconds later. Jennifer never gave her real full name either. She always used her nickname as to not give her identity away when she was out in the normal world. Plus she had her hair pulled up and big dark sunglasses on and no one recognized her. They would if they saw her eyes!

She paid and was about to head to the door when another name was called.

“Sarah Williams!” Her head and David’s both swiveled around at the same time looking back at the counter upon hearing the name and both watched as a short and rather rotund older woman with dark hair took her coffee. Jennifer smiled, recalling her character's name then headed to the exit door on the left and walked towards the church. David walked to the right and made his way to the book store. Hearing the name again brought a smile to his face too.

“Sarah” he said softly to himself just as if his character Jareth was speaking to her again.

Neither one was the wiser at how close they had been to each other. How many times had this happened before?


	6. Can You Hear Me?

David, being a very intelligent man, never had much of a problem relaying his feelings especially through music but was finding this task a bit difficult. For the past few days he strangely felt at a loss for the right words but at the same time there were a million words swirling around his brain waiting for a chance to jump out and onto paper. He hadn’t felt the urge stirring in him quite like this since the Seventies. It was hard to focus sitting at home and it made him edgy - as a matter of fact it was getting downright frustrating. The little notebook was his outlet and went with him on his strolls – which were becoming more frequent. Words seem to flow out of him easier that way when he wasn’t constricted by four walls even though their penthouse was enormous. Nothing beats fresh air and sunshine.

He wanted his response to be eloquent but affable and warm because that’s exactly how he was feeling yet not too polite or formal. Back then when responding to her letters while she was still attending high school it HAD to stay within a safe border. The conversations were kept cordial, with no flirting or else anything could have been taken out of context and there would be a terrible scandal considering her age. It brought back the memory that at one time early in his career, way before he even met Jennifer, there were allegations regarding the same situations. He was very well aware though that she had a slight crush on him and while he was very flattered he couldn’t help but think that if she were a bit older things might have been different.

Ever since David talked to both Toby and Brian and heard that Jennifer had sent emails to them he was curious as to why he hadn’t received one yet. Toby did say he had given her his email address. He wondered if she may be scared to reach out – which he was right in his assumption – or maybe just didn’t care to talk to him and felt disappointment at the thought. There was over a window of a few weeks that passed from her first email to Toby and then to Brian when he received hers. When he opened the email the sense of relief enveloped him.

‘ _Wouldn’t it be lovely to see her again_?’ he thought and suddenly ideas started to ping around in his brain. Just meeting for no reason in a public place might arouse the media’s suspicion since he never really was photographed unless he was with his family, CoCo or at a function they both attended.

He had to devise a plan to possibly meet up with her that wouldn’t sound too hokey. Jennifer was much smarter than her age belied back then and he knew she was even smarter as an adult, so his idea had better be a clever one or she would certainly see right through it and call him on his BS. Though he would never ever cheat on his wife the thought of being close to Jennifer made him feel a “spark” again like when he did when he was younger. There was an irresistible pull towards her – same as he did years ago on location. Like a moth to a flame in a sense. It made him regret a little that the ballroom scene in the movie couldn’t include a real kiss like it almost did in book form.

Wanting to be sure what he wrote was to his utmost scrutiny was the main reason the pages of the notebook had so many things scribbled and marked through. Sitting on a bench at 10 AM in Washington Square he finally had it all together and would respond later while the apartment was quiet. Iman and Lex left at eight o’clock to go out of town for the weekend to spend time with her parents and he’d have plenty of time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Returning from having a nice lunch and a long shopping session with Coco, who was unaware of his plan, he took the little notebook and sat down in front of the computer, opening his email. Normally he could tell his most trusted friend anything and it would never leave from between them. Being as protective of him as she always was, if he told her what he was up to she would warn him that he was playing with fire - even though his intentions were innocent and nothing had ever happened then or probably ever would. He could just hear her chiding him, just like a mother scolding a child.

‘Now David, you KNOW that even meeting with her is asking for trouble. You’re married and so is she! If you remember I’ve seen the movie AND the pictures and it’s pretty obvious she wasn’t the only one making goo-goo eyes!’

She wouldn’t be entirely wrong either!

Sighing as he began to type, his stomach fluttered with nervous butterflies. He never could have imagined that Jennifer felt the same way as she typed out his email.

 

From: David J.  
Subject: A Nice Surprise  
Date: September 5, 2008 15:38  
To: Jen

Hello Jennifer,

It is so very nice hearing from you. I’m sorry for such a long delay in getting back to you.

I’ve been doing very well now, thank you for asking. I wasn’t sure if you knew, but I’ve retired from touring a few years ago (health issue) but that hasn’t stopped me from working. I still have many irons in the fire as they say. Life can’t keep this old man down for long.

I heard through my grapevine that you were in Seattle and Froud ran into you on your holiday. He may be pitching a project to me for my input in the next few weeks – no involvement other than my opinions. Speaking of said project, I may ask your thoughts on something I am working on sometime in the future if you’d be interested.

Let’s meet for lunch or dinner soon.

Sincerely,

Dave

PS: Memory Lane can be a wonderful place.

He sent the email, satisfied that it was exactly how he wanted to it to be.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After getting both the boys fed then dressed and all three of them out the door, Jennifer pulled in the parking lot at the school 30 minutes before the program started at 6 PM. She shuffled Kai into the auditorium and got him settled backstage then took Stellan to their seats to wait for it to begin.

The lights dimmed and the presentation started. Her son was one of the first presenters and after he was done she couldn’t very well grab him and leave until the whole thing was over. They were stuck there. After twenty minutes passed she shifted her weight in the narrow, uncomfortable seat that contained very little cushion and looked at her watch hoping time would pass by a little faster. Stellan crawled out of his seat and onto her lap leaning awkwardly against her shoulder. The clutch she carried was wedged between her thigh and the armrest to keep it from falling and the suddenly phone inside it went off loudly. It notified her that she had a message, instantly jarring her and breaking her concentration on the show and waking Stellan who had just started to fall asleep.

‘ _Damn, how could I have forgotten to turn it off or at least to vibrate_ ’ she thought.

“I’m sorry” she mouthed an apology silently to the people around her who were looking at the source of the noise. Setting Stellan back in his seat she unzipped the clutch, reached in pulling it out to turn it off. Seeing the notification she almost dropped the phone out of her hand because it startled her.

“Oh, shit” she whispered under her breath.

There was a message from David.


	7. I Wish I May....

Her hands shakily placed the phone back in her purse as not to be rude with the semi-bright light from her phone screen distracting anyone else. The buzzing noise when the message delivered was enough to cause several people to look curiously in her direction anyways. It also caused her face to flush with embarrassment though no one would notice in the lowered lights in the auditorium. Deep down inside she was absolutely dying to read his email but that would have to wait until later, maybe after the boys were in bed if she could wait that long then she would have plenty of quiet time.

The message time did flash across the screen quickly and she was fortunate enough to catch it before it faded. It informed her that he had sent it over a few hours ago. Wondering how she missed it coming in until one of the most inopportune times possible made her curse her luck under her breath. Probably best that she didn’t get it while she was driving. She blamed its delay on the reception on the way to the school or it could have been the large room because it wasn’t the best anyways. Sometimes her phone acted a little wonky which irritated her to no end. Almost every time she crossed over the Brooklyn Bridge signal would be lost somewhere in the middle. She made a mental note to check other cell companies next week for a more reliable service.

Time seemed to pass very slowly, but maybe it was because she was anxious. Curiosity was about to kill her. When the program was finally over she took Stellan by the hand and made her way over to Kai hugging him tightly and congratulating him for winning his Science award. They started to make a hasty retreat home before the traffic in the school parking lot got worse. Tonight she really didn’t want to mingle with the other parents like she always did so she politely excused herself to those who did try to engage her. There was something more important pressing on her mind.

~~~~~~~~~

It was only 7:30 when they walked through the door and though the boys had eaten before they left, being growing boys their appetites were constantly growing too. Kai was the first to speak up and complain that he still was hungry. She knew if he wanted something then his little shadow would follow suit.

“Mom, can you make some pizza rolls?”

“Sure honey. Go turn on the TV and take your brother to the Living Room. I’ll call you when they’re ready.”

He scurried off to the Living room with his brother in tow. She put the oven on to preheat and put the pizza rolls on a cookie sheet. As soon as she put them in and set the timer she sat down on the high back bar chair at the counter and reached for her purse to retrieve her phone. Looking around the wall into the next room in a very conspiratorial manner, she could see both of them were already seriously engrossed in cartoons.

Opening up the phone, his email popped up and a slow smile spread across her face when she began to read the first line. His words always touched a part of her heart and in her mind with each one she could almost hear him speaking to her in his very calm voice. A voice that was smooth as velvet caressing her eardrums.

It alarmed her reading about his health issue which caused her to suck in her breath as she put her hand to her lips, but then remembered years ago hearing about him collapsing on stage. She figured it was his heart and was immediately relieved when he said that he had slowed down to take care of himself. 

‘ _The world would be a very much bleaker place without you in it David_.’ she whispered, tenderly running her index finger over his message on the phone screen.

Once again the phone rang loudly, jarring her back to reality and breaking her train of thought. It was Paul.

“How’s my favorite girl?” he asked.

“Missing one certain tall, fair, hunky specimen of a husband, that’s for sure!”. She laughed and fake chided him, "And just how many favorite girls do you have mister?"

“There’s only room for one in my life and you’re it.”

It was always so comforting to hear his voice on their nightly calls. It lessened the loneliness once she got used to him being away. They usually flirted and bantered back and forth at first before he’d let her know how his day went then asking about hers. He would talk to the boys after they were finished and his timing was always impeccable because it would be right before their bedtime.

She took the phone to the boys to let them talk to him and for Kai to tell him all about winning his trophy. She could hear Paul's voice congratulating him and Kai's face beaming with pride before he passed the phone to his brother. By the time they said goodnight and she told him goodnight the boys pizza rolls were done. They ate and she cleaned up, shooing them upstairs for bed right before the last dish was put away.

Later, once she got them settled into bed, she changed into her comfy pajama pants and a t-shirt, turned back the duvet and crawled into bed. Sitting with her back against the massive headboard she picked up her phone she had carried upstairs from the nightstand. She wanted to re-read David’s email since she never finished or fully digested the parts of the message she did manage to read before Paul called.

Reading the second paragraph she was instantly curious about what he could possibly need her input on for whatever it was that he was working on. God help if it were about music because she was clueless. Paul could play the guitar and tried to teach her when they first started dating but it was hopeless. Well whatever it was, David had his reasons for asking her to meet with him about it. Then it sunk in.

“Oh, God! Meet with him? He wants to meet me for lunch _OR DINNER_?”

She began to panic a little. Her cheeks flushed and she suddenly felt hot. She fanned herself to cool off.

“Shit!”

Before she had looked forward to possibly meeting up and it was after all just a lovely thought. One she was hoping to be a little more prepared for. She was going to be the one to suggest it first but he beat her to it and now HE wanted to meet with HER.

“OK, think. He did say soon, it’s not like it’s happening tomorrow.” She took a deep breath and let it out. “Just breathe.”

After a minute she began to calm down just a little but with the residual adrenaline still pumping through her maybe she should have a glass of wine to bring her back down and relax.

She went downstairs and poured a nice glass of merlot and brought it back to her room. There would be plenty of time to plan how she would react seeing him again.

Remembering that there was another line below his name she picked up the phone to continue where she left off before she freaked out.

“PS: Memory Lane can be a wonderful place.” Those were HIS words - underlined.

Did that mean that she crossed his mind like he did hers over all those years?


	8. Looking for a Friend

It took downing a second glass of wine for her to be able to center her thoughts. Laying the phone down, she walked over to Paul’s desk and opened up the laptop. Logging in, she typed in David’s name in the search box making a metal note to cover her tracks and delete the search history. It would certainly hurt Paul’s feelings if he saw what she was looking at and it was something she’d never want to do.

There were no shortage of images of David and she could go through them for days and they’d ever end. The images spanned from his childhood all the way up to present day. Some she had seen but there were a lot more that she hadn’t. It was like opening a virtual Bowie Pandora’s box filled with tantalizing fruit.

Though she had seen him in magazines and on television every once in a blue moon over the years, he seemed to grow even more handsome and distinguished as he aged. His hair was still fair and hid his age well but there were touches of silver in some of the wisps framing his face and in the scruffy five o’clock shadow in quite a few of the photos that gave it away. His eyes, even with the crinkles of laugh lines and crow’s feet, still held a mischievous glint in the mismatched pair. Those were the same eyes that looked into the depths of her very young soul and spoke silently that he understood her.

Biting her bottom lip, she also remembered how intense and direct his gaze was as it traveled from her eyes, to lingering on her lips before it sultrily strayed to her décolletage peeking above the frilly ball gown, then returning to her eyes - which made her face burn hot with a blush even to this day. Looking back over her copy of the movie that she played repeatedly, it was obvious to her the more she looked at it that pure seduction literally poured from him. The camera caught it too and she wondered if anyone else noticed it the way she did. Nevertheless, there was nothing that felt like it did as they danced. It was very sensual, maybe even dangerous even though he kept a reasonable and respectable space between them. There were a couple of times though when he pulled their bodies close enough that she felt warmth radiating from him and she wondered whether or not it was accidental or if he intended to do it . He would squeeze her hand at times too - now THAT was intentional. 

Two hours must have passed by with her looking at the thousands of pictures and her eyes began to get a little heavy because of the long day and partly due to the wine. Pretty soon she would need to get up and get some sleep and her gaze strayed over to the very inviting bed. At least she could sleep in a little being that it was the weekend. The boys were up early on most Saturday mornings to watch cartoons and she usually was up right before they woke and had breakfast going. Well, that didn’t happen this morning.

Snorting in her sleep she woke up wide-eyed still at the desk, her head resting on an outstretched arm which had fallen asleep and was numb but still holding the empty wine glass. Narrowing her eyes to focus, she looked over at the large blue digital numbers on the nightstand clock and saw that it was almost eight o’clock. She wiggled her fingers to force circulation back to them, but only succeeded in making the prickly pins and needles sensation worse. How could she have not made it to bed? One thing for sure, the damn chair was uncomfortable!

Downstairs she could hear the boys laughing at something on the TV and was surprised they bypassed her bedroom and didn’t immediately demand her to wake up and make food. Cartoons took precedence. There was always cereal and snacks and Kai definitely helped himself and served his brother, sometimes when she wasn’t looking.

In the process of lifting her head she was greeted by the shrill ring of the cell phone still on the nightstand where she left it. It rang three times and went to voicemail before she could get up to retrieve it so she’d give it a few minutes before listening to the message. Paul never called in the mornings and whoever it was, if it were important enough would leave a message and if it was an emergency they would call back.

Sitting upright the first thing she did was clear the browser then walked over and grabbed the phone to retrieve her message on the way to the bathroom to pee. After hearing the voice she regretted not picking it up. "Damn" she swore at herself.

“ _Hello Jennifer its Brian. Sorry for calling so early and don’t mean to disturb you if I woke you. I seem to forget sometimes how early it is on the East coast… even though we’re in same time zone at the moment. It’s easy to get turned around as much traveling as I do_.

 _Well, I’m in Atlanta and on my way right now to the airport to fly out to Houston for a day or so.”_ He paused. _“Say, listen, Toby and I are going to be meeting up on the 19th when he is in New York too and wondered if you’d like to join us for lunch or maybe dinner. I hope so._

 _Call me and let me know. I’m looking forward to seeing you! Bye_!”

After listening to his message she smiled because in the way he apologized for the early call she could hear a hint of Hoggle’s gruffness with the way he pronounced some words. Well after all he was the man who really gave the little dwarf life. Not discrediting the actor inside the puppet but it was his voice and the expressions that made him as real as any human to her. He also sounded so similar in some intonations to his father it was almost heartbreaking. She missed Jim.

“Mommmmm!” a long, drawn out and whiny voice came from downstairs. “We want pancakes!”

“Pannncaaakessssss” a smaller high pitched voice drawled out. ‘Great, now he’s recruited his brother to drive me crazy!’ she thought.

“I’ll be down in a minute. Can you get the milk and eggs out of the fridge for me? Thanks” she yelled back to Kai as she walked towards the bathroom to relieve herself and take some Ibuprofen for the pinched neck aches and potential headache she was trying to stave off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the boys were fed and the mess cleaned, she stored Brian’s name and number on her phone and hit re-dial.

It rang twice and went straight to voice mail. He must be on the plane by now. Clearing her throat, she began to leave him a message in an unusually chipper voice that she was sure didn’t belong to her.

“ _Hey Brian! You don’t know how good it was to hear your voice when I checked my phone. I’m so sorry I missed your call_ ”.

What she thought she really should have said was ‘ _Yeah, I ditched your call because I got drunk and stayed up almost all night on the internet obsessing over David so now I am hung over. Oh, and I had to pee_ ’.

She continued. “ _Yeah, getting together sounds great_!”

For her to be someone who was a great conversationalist, she was stuck with now knowing what to say next so she stammered.

“ _Um, I’m free on the 19th, just let me know what time and where. I’m looking forward to seeing both of you too. Well, um, OK. Bye!_ ”

“Oh my _GOD_ , I sounded so stupid!” she said putting her hand on her forehead, closing her eyes.

“I’m _SUCH_ an idiot!” she said shaking her head, huffing her breath at the same time. Her dull headache reminded her from the movement that the medicine had not had time to take effect yet.

She checked her calendar to make sure there were no appointments or any other commitments. Luckily the whole week was open and she found herself getting excited about seeing her old friends again.

~~~~~~~~

David had been awake since 6:30, lying on his back looking up at the ceiling. Iman slightly stirred beside him and he turned his head to look at his beautiful wife, smiling as she resumed deeply breathing. In repose she was breathtaking, just like an angel. Her face was flawless even in sleep and it reminded him of how she looked when they met and he fell in love with her almost sixteen years ago.

His phone vibrated on the table and he reached over to pick it up. Brian was calling, so he slid out of bed, careful not to disturb Iman and padded off silently across the wood floor in his bare feet.

“Brian, hang on old chap” he whispered as he closed the bedroom door, tiptoed down the hallway past Lexi’s room and walked down the stairs to the Kitchen and the terrace doors outside the Dining area. 

When he was out of earshot of his family he greeted Brian.

“Good morning old man, how’s the world treating you?” he said teasingly laughing in his soft English accent that could only belong to him. It sounded all so very Jareth-y".

“Sorry if I woke you.” Brian said.

“Its alright, I was awake already. I was about to get up anyway because I need coffee.”

“Reason I’m calling is I wanted to make sure I caught you early enough to get together next week. Froud will be in New York and I wanted to see if you’d like to join us for lunch”

“Froud Senior?” David interjected.

“No, Junior. Toby”

“Yes, it's been a while since we spoke. I had heard he is producing movies now. You know, Duncan wants to do the same.” David laughed. “I’ll have to remind Junior of the little ‘accident’ he had on my lap when I see him. That memory never gets old”.

Brian paused for a second. “Jennifer will be there”.

There was a brief moment of silence from the other end of the phone and Brian wasn't sure if maybe the called dropped or what.

"David, are you there?" he asked.

David was a little stunned at first but pulled himself together quickly.

“Yes, yes of course. Then unless something terribly drastic comes up I will be there” he replied.

Brian told him that he’d touch base again to confirm with details.

As he hung up the phone he looked out over the city as it was just waking up and suddenly everything seemed much more beautiful. It was his favorite time of day. The sun broke through the hazy clouds shining down on him and he turned his face up to its warmth.

He’d get to see her again.


	9. That's a Promise

About a week later Jennifer was just walking in her door from dropping off the boys at school, running errands and grocery shopping when she heard the familiar ping of her phone announcing a new message. Letting the purse slide off of her shoulder and down on the counter she absentmindedly went about putting the items in the bags away before she reached in and checked the phone.  
There was an email from Brian. She wondered why he didn’t just call her instead but figured he may be in a meeting or traveling.

Her stomach tickled like it was filled with a thousand butterflies as she clicked to open it because she hadn’t heard back from him since she left her ridiculously awkward message. Thinking about how she sounded made her roll her eyes at just how annoyingly cheerful her voice was and she loathed that it sounded so fake. That was not like her!

From: Brian H.  
Subject: Lunch Date  
Date: September 15, 2008 08:15  
To: “Jen”

Hello Jennifer,

I got your message last week. Sorry it took a few days to get back to you. Toby and I finally caught up and made a plan for lunch this Friday. We would love for you to come and be our lunch date. We’ve got a lot to catch up on!

I made us reservations at Bistros Les Amis (how fitting is that?) on Spring Street. 11:30 if that’s good with you? Call me and let me know if it is.

Brian

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After checking her calendar and confirming the date with Brian, Jennifer was a nervous wreck until the 19th finally arrived. She made three outfit changes before donning an emerald green v-necked silk shirt, black skirt and low heels. She applied a rosy tinted lipstick and touched up her face with powder in the hallway mirror before heading out the door and into the city.

Traffic flowed fluidly and she made it 10 minutes before their reservation fortunately finding the last parking spot on the street. Smoothing her hair and applying a little more lipstick, she stepped out of the car and walked towards the bistro. Seeing that her friends were not on the sidewalk dining area she walked in and to the hostess station right inside the door. The girl looked up from the desk and smiled. Jennifer read her name tag ' _Sara_ ' – no “ _h_ ” - her name was appropriately close for today’s lunch date!

“Welcome to Les Amis” the young girl said. “Will you be dining alone or meeting another party?”

“I’ll be joining two of my friends” she said scanning the room until she spotted them. “Um, yes, there they are.”

“Yes, Mrs. Connelly” Sara said smiling letting her know she recognized who she was and was not about to go all out fan-girl. She kept a very professional decorum as Jennifer knew that she saw lots of celebrities - after all it was New York. “Please follow me” she instructed.

She was then ushered in to where they were seated in the back as several patrons took notice of her when she glided past. The willowy, statuesque beauty in emerald – a color that made her fierce green eyes sparkle even more intensely. Jennifer never saw them looking but focused straight ahead to Toby and Brian who were engaged in conversation.

Both men had already been seated when she walked in and were talking animatedly before Toby’s eyes caught sight of her and he stopped talking mid-sentence. She had to remind herself that Toby wasn’t a kid anymore and the way he looked at her was definitely appreciative. Brian turned around in his chair when he noticed that Toby’s attention had strayed and when Brian saw her both men stood.

“Jennifer! You’re still just as beautiful as you were 20 years ago!” Brian said as Jennifer came up to him wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.

“Oh my God, it is so good to see you” she said, then looking over Brian’s shoulder at Toby as she was still hugging him “And it’s good seeing you again too Tobes”.

Toby came around the table and hugged her then held out the chair for her to sit. He looked over to Brian then to Jennifer as she was sitting down and said “Out of all the places to see her again, I run into her – or rather she almost plowed me over – on the streets of Seattle.”

Jennifer blushed, remembering her carelessness. “Yeah, like a bull in a China shop” she laughed as she picked up the menu on the table to see what to order. For some reason now her appetite had disappeared but knew she had to eat or risk a headache.

The server came and brought glasses of ice water before saying he’d be back in a few minutes to take their order.

Brian took this opportunity to mention David.

“David was supposed to come today but had to cancel” he said as he watched Jennifer trying to gauge her reaction as she picked up her glass and took a sip. She was trying to feign some indifference but he could tell that what he said affected her. “He called me this morning. His daughter is ill and he was taking her to the pediatrician”.

She nodded. Having young boys she knew exactly what it was like, but was still disappointed nonetheless. She was surprised that Brian said nothing when he left her the message about getting together that David was included on the invitation.

“He talked about you quite a bit over the years” Toby said, her eyes meeting his.

“Really?” Jennifer said taking another sip from her glass of water trying not to show that her heart was about to leap out of her chest but she knew that they both could tell she was happy to hear it. She had no idea that Toby kept in touch with David too. Brian she could understand, but not Toby because he was only a toddler then.

“He thought a lot of you.” Brian added.

“But I really don’t know why he would. It was such a long time ago.” she said with a curious look.

Brian said “He had a soft spot for you, always talking about how smart and beautiful you were and that you weren’t like ordinary girls your age. He called you ‘mature’ if I recall correctly.” This caused Jennifer to blush.

“We kept in touch for a few years later but, well I guess life happens because I stopped hearing from him. He's married, now here I am married too with a wonderful husband and two beautiful boys” she said.

In the back of her mind it kept replaying ‘ _how smart and beautiful you were_ ’. She KNEW it! He may have had some kind of feelings for her too but completely understood how the age difference would make things very complicated between them – professionally AND legally. And here she thought that he thought of her as a goofy, starry eyed child. At least she felt like that was what she looked like to him.

Trying to steer the subject away from David because it reminded her of her awfully obvious crush on him, she shifted the conversation asking each of them about their lives and families. The server coming to take their orders helped to segue into a normal conversation and steer away from that awkward memory.

A few moments later the food came and they ate their lunches all the while continuing to fill in the gap of ten years absence.

The trio spent the better part of almost two hours talking and laughing. Jennifer had a light salad and was finished early so she pushed her plate away continuing to concentrate on Toby and Brian.

They were almost finished with their lunches when Jennifer looked down at her watch and with a very disappointed look crossing her face, announced that she had to leave and pick up her boys from school. All were sad that they spent such a short time together even though the lunch date lasted over two hours. She left them with a sweet parting promise.

“Maybe it will be more _sooner_ than later when we can do this again. I am going to make sure I have a lot more time the next time.”

“Please keep in touch with us and we’ll do this on a frequent basis” Brian said. “Maybe next time there will be four of us.”

“I promise” she said. Jennifer left with a very happy heart.

She had just walked out of the door after paying for her food and telling Toby and Brian goodbye when Brian’s phone rang.

It was David.


	10. After today

Jennifer had no more than rounded the corner of the building and was probably to her car by now when Brian’s phone started buzzing frantically beside his hand prompting him look down. It was lying face down and as he turned it over to either pick it up and answer or silence it he instantly recognized the name on the screen. This was a call that he would take and definitely not ignore.

Looking over at Toby he smiled. “Excuse me, let me get this. It’s David. I knew he’d be dying to know how it went” and picked it up to answer.

“Yes, by all means!” Toby exclaimed.

“David, hello!”

“So how was lunch?” David asked.

“It went well. We missed your spectacular presence though.” This caused David to chuckle warmly.

“As much as I would have loved to come, and I’m sorry I didn’t get to, but I had a family situation. Kind of a last minute thing”. Brian could hear the disappointment in David’s voice.

“Well things happen that we can’t control” Brian explained.

“Lexi had a high fever last night and we couldn’t get it to break so we took her early this morning to her pediatrician - thankfully it’s nothing serious, you know, the flu. It took longer than we thought it would or else I surely would have been there.”

“Well lunch is on you next time” Brian laughed. “We’ll firm up details when we plan so we can all make it”. He then paused and looked over at Toby who was very curious about their exchange.

“By the way, it was great seeing Jennifer again. She’s still as lovely as ever. I’d put her on the phone but you just missed her”.

On the other end of the line he could slightly hear David’s disappointed sigh. “That’s just my luck isn’t it?” he said

With talk of Jennifer aside, they chatted a minute more and were about to say goodbye and hang up when Brian made a suggestion that he call her.

“You know, instead of emailing why don’t you just call her? She promised we’d do it again soon so this could be a good excuse to ring her up.”

Toby had sat across the table the whole time taking in the conversation the whole time and perked up when he heard Brian’s hint.

“Yes, I will certainly have to do that. What’s her number?” David asked.

“I’m wasn’t sure if I gave it to you or if Toby did but if here it is you want to take it down.” He paused to give him time to find something to write on. “Ready? OK, its 917-555-0923.”

He could hear David scribbling furiously. “OK, got it, thank you”.

“I honestly don’t think she’d mind that I gave it to you. I’m really surprised you didn’t have it already.”

“She never included it on her emails.”

Brian could hear a child’s voice in the background calling out for her daddy.

“Well it was nice talking but I have to go. Fatherhood calls! Talk to you soon. Goodbye.”

When Brian put the phone down they looked at each other.

“Well now, that ought to be something when they’re face-to-face” Toby said and Brian shook his head slowly in agreement.

~~~~~~~~

Jennifer pulled up to the pickup line of drivers forming at Stellan’s school still smiling from having lunch with her two handsome dates. So much time had went by and it was so good to re-connect.

As her car inched closer she saw her son talking to one of his friends on the sidewalk about 5 car lengths ahead of hers. He suddenly noticed his mother’s car and bolted straight towards her, which caused her to stiffen up in her seat and hold her breath hoping that he didn’t dart out in front of another car. He was cut off by a teacher who corralled him and walked him to his waiting mother. She let out her breath in relief. As soon as Ms. Bailey opened the door he bounded into the car with all the energy of a happy puppy.

“Have a good evening Mrs. Connelly” the teacher said. She was about to close the door when Jennifer thanked her for making sure Stellan safely got to her.

“I want PIZZA! Can we go to Chucky’s tonight?” he demanded and asked at the same time. She was still full from lunch.

“If Kai is OK with it then we’ll go.” Stellan smiled broadly at her with his two missing teeth very obvious and they made their way to the next school a few miles down the road.

When the boys were fed and she could get them home and cleaned up then she could rest and reflect over the day and how she was very close to getting to see David again.

Stopping at the next school she parked at the curb and waited. Kai walked away from his group of friends and opened the car door sliding in the back seat. He was at the age now where he had to look cool in front of his friends. Gone were the days of greeting his mother with a hug a kiss and she missed them. Well she still had one that would and she planned on holding on to that as long as she could.

“I hope you’re in the mood for pizza. This one wants to go to Chucky’s” she said over her shoulder to her son in the back seat.

“Can’t we just pick up pizza and take it home? I don’t feel like it tonight” Kai said which caused Stellan to whine and immediately teeter on the edge of throwing a tantrum.

In all honesty, she didn’t want to go either. Brian’s words kept echoing in her mind and kept distracting her.

"Listen, if I let you play one of my video games can we eat at home?” Kai asked, trying to bargain with his brother who after a few minutes of bickering back and forth ended up agreeing rather quickly so she placed a call for a pickup.

' _Great_ ’ she thought. ' _Now I can shower and relax in my PJ’s_ ’ but what she would end up doing was analyzing each and every detail of her lunch meeting.


	11. Almost Grown

David had pulled the bedroom door almost shut, leaving a sliver of light from the hallway showing through to the darkened room and was about to walk away when a tiny, drowsy voice squeaked out.

“Daddy, please read me a story.”

How could he say no to his little baby girl, especially when she was sick?

Lexi still had a slightly elevated temperature so as soon as they were home she was immediately put in bed to recover. The medicine she was given should have knocked her out by now but she was fighting sleep so he sighed and walked back in the room. He would amuse her until it took effect. More than likely she’d be asleep by the time the story ended anyways.

She recently turned eight years old but still wanted to have her dad tuck her in and read to her. For a child, Lexi had an extensive library built up of her own already with all of the classic children’s books he bought her, though her collection was not quite as large as the one he amassed with such a large trove of books. But even with so many stories to choose from she preferred the tall tales spun by her father.

Sometimes though he would sing her to sleep with hauntingly beautiful lullabies and some songs were just silly little nursery rhymes he’d make up. He wanted to hold on to her at this age as long as possible fearing the day she grew out of wanting to spend time like this with her daddy. Pretty soon it would be with girlfriends and God help him..…...boys!

“And what adventure would you like me to take you on tonight, love?” he asked.

“Tell me the one about the princess and the peach” she replied.

He knew which one she meant. This story was not in any of the books she owned but he had told it to her many times over the years. Yes, he knew the origins of where the story came from and they even had the movie he was in, but it was better when he told it HIS way. The ending was much better when he had a hand in it because in the end HE was the victor. She never even correlated her father’s story with the movie – or at least not yet.

Because he was so detail oriented his stories took a long time, but he wanted her imagination to soar and for her to actually “see” everything in her mind as if she were there. He did the same when he was a little boy being the little bookworm he was (and never grew out of becoming). Sometimes he would get into character using some familiar lines and Lexi was mesmerized even though he never told it verbatim at any time.

As a gift from Jim, he was given one of the crystal props when the movie wrapped and used it for effect but to his dismay, could never quite figure out how to juggle it without dropping it and breaking it into a thousand pieces. It was in a safe place well out of her reach and always placed back after each time he told this particular story. So not to damage it he just held it in a menacing manner as he spoke but didn’t think he’d need to get it this time feeling very assured she’d be asleep quickly. It grew to be one of Lexi’s favorite stories – and still one of his favorites to tell her. One day she’d tell this story to her children and it would be passed down through generations. The movie certainly lasted as many years!

“Oh, all right Precious” he said to her as she scooted over and he sat on the side of bed snuggling up next to her.

“Once upon a time” she started out.

David picked it up from there. “There was a young girl, but she was no ordinary girl. Oh no – this one, well, she was very beautiful....very special. She was a princess” he paused. “But she didn’t know it.”

David always was a little wistful as he’d start the story and it gave the story a romantic vibe even though Lexi was too young to understand. Someday she would.

“The girl was given a book - little red one – that she grew to love with all of her heart and knew every single sentence by memory. And this book, it contained words that gave her certain powers - the power to make wishes come true. It was given to her by the king of all the goblins in a faraway land called the Underground. But she had no idea of the power of her words”.

Neither one had heard or noticed that Iman had opened the door and was leaning against the frame smiling. She had come to check on Lexi.

“David, you’ve told her this story over a million times” she said. “You could just put the movie in for her.”

“I know but…” he said.

“No Mommy, Daddy tells it more better!” Lexi interrupted him before he could finish the sentence.

“Much better” Iman corrected Lexi. “Remember your grammar.”

She laughed “I’m sure telling it never gets old”.

“It never does for me” he said winking at his wife.

“I truly believe it” she said.

“Would you rather watch TV instead?” David asked, looking down at Lexi who sheepishly said “No” after being chided by her mother.

“OK, you two. I have to leave and go work, but I will be home by dinnertime.” She walked in and leaned down, kissing Lexi on the forehead and turned to give David a quick kiss before walking out, closing the door behind her.

“Are you sure you’re up for this?” he asked Lexi who emphatically shook her head ‘ _yes_ ’

“OK then” and he listened for a moment and heard the door downstairs close then continued.

He never told it the same way but the gist of it was the same. “One night the beautiful girl was very angry at her evil stepmother and made a wish. She asked for the king to come to her because she had something to give him.”

“What daddy?” she asked.

“A baby.”

“A baby?” she asked. It went this way every time he told it.

“YES, a baby. But the king did not want the baby. He wanted something else from the princess.”

“What Daddy?”

“He wanted a kiss! A kiss from the one he truly loved, but the princess refused to give him the kiss OR give him the baby. She told him that she took back the wish and it made the King angry – VERY angry, so he decided to take the little boy from her promising her that she would never see him again - that he would be turned to a goblin unless she gave him a kiss.”

He looked down to Lexi and could see her eyelids were getting very heavy. It wouldn’t be much longer now.

“Did the goblins come?” she asked, yawning.

“Yes, he sent the goblins to fetch the baby and take him back to the Underground until the girl would come and try to save him - then he would get his kiss.””

By the time he finished the last of the sentence she was fast asleep, so he softly got up as not to disturb her and left her room.

After closing the door he walked to his bedroom and to the large closet, where on the floor in the corner was an old, rather large travel trunk he kept that took up quite a bit of space. It was filled with memorabilia from his music and movie career. It seemed that within the past few months he had seemed a little more nostalgic, especially since Toby told him that he had seen Jennifer. Smiling, he opened the heavy lid and pulled a few things out. As he leafed through some pictures a small plastic bag fell to the floor. Inside of the bag was a folded napkin. Instantly he remembered where it came from and why he was holding on to it.

It belonged to Jennifer.


	12. Tuesday’s Child Is Full of Grace

With homework done and dinner long since eaten, the boys were settled in their rooms playing when Jennifer decided that a long hot shower was just what she needed while things were relatively quiet. They’d be OK without being under her watchful eye for at least twenty minutes. Paul would be calling shortly and she was planning on having her shower done before then.

Turning on the water she set it to as hot as possible without getting burned before stepping in. The hot water hitting her body caressed it like a million tiny hands massaging her muscles and she instantly relaxed. Breathing in the steam that had started to rise and cover the glass walls, she tilted her head back and let the water run through her long, thick hair. Closing her eyes for just a second, she half expected her husband to open the door to join her and could almost feel Paul’s hands run down her body – or did she imagine they belong to someone else? She felt the slight pang of disappointment upon opening her eyes knowing that she was totally alone. Rivulets of water ran down her face and into her eyes making them sting, or was it tears starting? Well, Paul would be back at home in a few weeks when the movie wrapped and they’d no longer have to spend so many nights apart. The lonely feeling always seemed to get to her more at night since he had left.

Shaking her head, she grabbed the bottle of body wash and squeezed it onto the wet sponge. A large bubble formed and lifted up caught in the waves of steam. The luminous orb rose up and danced to and fro in front of her face as if it was trying to put her under its spell and she watched it get closer and closer to her before very gently blowing it away. For a moment she was taken back into time.

“ _Jareth_ ” she whispered. Then remembering a line from the movie couldn’t help from repeating it.

“Everything’s dancing” she said softly, lifting her hand to it. The delicate bubble slowly landed on her fingertips as she studied it, taking in its iridescent sheen while it lingered for more than a few seconds before bursting into tiny drops of water.

She sighed and said. “This is crazy. I’m crazy. And it’s all because he could have been there today. I need to stop this.”

Finishing her shower she wrapped her hair in a towel and dried off before putting on a thick, white cotton robe. The phone rang as she tied it close so she ran to catch it before it made it to voicemail.

“Hey babe!” she said excitedly as she saw Paul’s number on the screen.

“Hello my _beloved_ wife!” he said in his chipper and unmistakably English accent. His tone seemed to silently imply the need to remind her of her marital status while he was gone, especially since she had been back in contact with her former co-stars. She would have to assure him that he had no reason not to trust her. Physically she’d never do anything to jeopardize their marriage, but inside her mind he’d never know her thoughts – or more like fantasies – especially about David.

“How was your day? How are the boys?” he asked.

“Well, the boys are fine as usual. They just gorged on pizza for dinner so I’m taking advantage of a little quiet time. I took a nice hot shower.”

“Mmm, wish I was there to wash your back for you” he said.

“Is that ALL you’d want to do to me?” she asked suggestively.

“When I get home I’ll show you exactly what I want to do to you”. This made her smile wickedly.

They were about to get a little more detailed when a voice came from the door.

“Lemme talk to Daddy!” Stellan said, so she passed the phone to him and he ran to his room chatting away as she could hear Kai go into his room to talk to him too.

The break allowed her to remove the robe and slip into her soft poplin pajama pants and one of Paul’s large, comfy t-shirts.

“OK daddy, Nighty-night. Love you” Kai told his father as he brought the phone back to her.

“It won’t be too much longer and I’ll be home honey. I’ve almost wrapped all of my scenes.”  
“I know. I miss you” she said.

“OK, so you never finished telling me about your day”. She had to go ahead and tell him about her meeting and knew as soon as he heard he’d wonder if David was there.

“Well, I had lunch with Brian and Toby finally.”

“How was it? Where did you go?” he asked.

“It was great seeing them again. We met over at Les Amis on Spr - ” Paul interrupted her.

“Oh yeah, off of Spring Street. Great food.” he said. It surprised her that he knew where it was but she wasn’t about to ask how.

They talked a little more and he never mentioned David so she let it go and they said goodbye.

She laid the phone down on the bed and went back to brush her teeth and a few minutes later phone rang again. She didn’t recognize the number but something was prodding her to answer it.

~~~~~~~~

David bent down and picked up the little plastic bag that had fallen into the beam of bright light of the afternoon sun streaming through the closet window. He looked at it and smiled but didn’t open it. There was a bright pink smudge of lipstick peeking out one of the folded corners. So many memories came flooding back. Downstairs he heard the door open so he placed it back in the trunk and closed it.

CoCo’s voice called out to him so he went down and met her at the foyer where she was placing some papers on the table by the door. Since she had a key she’d let herself in sometimes to quickly drop off work for him or deliver lunch if he was busy writing. It never seemed to bother Iman that she came and went as freely as she did. She was a dear friend and so much a part of his life that Iman accepted it.

“Oh, hello David! I wasn’t sure if you were here or not but I brought some ideas for the music you were talking about the other day.” she said.

He had forgotten about talking to her. He had still been trying to come up with a way to meet with Jennifer and the material CoCo brought was some of the things that would make his soliciting her help a little more believable.

“Yes, thank you!” he said leafing through a few pages. “This is exactly what I needed. Fabulous work!” he said praising her.

“Let me know if there’s anything else you need” she said turning for the door.

“Staying for dinner?” he asked and she declined. She had some things to take care of later. After CoCo left Iman returned home and brought takeout so dinner was early.

Later he sat sequestered in the quietness of his office/studio and looked back over the pages of ideas. Iman was attending to Lexi and would be with her for quite a while. He took this opportunity to pick up the phone and call Jennifer.

She picked up on the 3rd ring as he almost chickened out and hung up.

“Hello?”

“Hi, it’s David” he said.

“Oh my God! It’s so good to hear from you” she said. “It’s been too long, how are you?”

“Fine, everything’s fine. I’m sorry I had to miss out on lunch. I was looking forward to it ever since Brian invited me to join you all.”

“Next time” she said laughing.

“Well, actually that’s what I was calling you for. Would you like to meet me this Tuesday? Catch up on things?”

“Sure” she said. It surprised him that she did not hesitate in agreeing to meet him.

“I have a project I’d like to talk to you about. It’s something I’ve been kicking around. Maybe I can get your thoughts”.

She was a little taken aback and very flattered at the same time that he wanted HER opinion on his work, because anything he did was absolutely genius.

“I’m free pretty much all day on the 23rd. How about Café Orlin on St. Marks?” she asked. It was somewhere she was going to suggest when they all met for lunch but Brian beat her to it.

“Perfect” he said, because it was not too many blocks away from his home on Lafayette Street. “Is 1 o’clock Ok with you? It’s right after lunch crowd and should be pretty quiet”.

She agreed and a date was set.


	13. Absolute Beginnings

David stood outside the restaurant looking at its façade and decided that the café indeed was the most perfectly mundane place to meet. It wouldn’t attract attention as it would if they met closer to where he had been working on some music at the Power Station. The studio was was a few streets over from Central Park and he was glad she suggested somewhere away from the mainstream.

This café wasn’t far from Washington Square Park – only a few streets away to Second Avenue. No need to take a car for such a short distance. The fresh air from the 20 minute walk over did him good. It did nothing to stop his mind from racing though.

Walking in, he chose a small table close to the back of the bar far enough away from a direct shot of the doorway and anyone coming who may recognize him. Besides the bartender and wait-staff there were only 2 other customers in the place who were so engaged in deep conversation that they never noticed him come in. His vantage point also offered a lovely view of the outside terrace and street from a massive window. He’d be able to see when she approached.

He sat down and within a minute the server came over and brought him a glass of water before asking to take his order. Informing the young man that he was waiting for someone, the man walked back towards the Kitchen and David was left to survey the room, enjoying the music from the Seventies/Eighties playing lightly in the background. The bar area of the restaurant was probably the last place he should have sat close to seeing that at one point of his life in the mid Seventies he had been a raging alcoholic, but not anymore. Those days of drinking and cocaine binges were long gone and thankfully behind him when he met Iman in 1990. It was much nicer being sober.

Biting his lip, the desire to have something just to take the edge off tried to tempt him as sometimes it did and he knew he needed to be strong. His nerves could've easily made him give in and have just one drink if nothing more than to just to calm them but he knew better than to even have one and face her. Even one drop had the potential to send him back to the deep darkness of his former addiction. Alcohol had not touched his lips in well over a decade - almost two - and he intended to keep it as such.

Straightening the gray tweed jacket that was carefully picked out that morning he looked at his reflection in the bar’s mirror and sighed, instantly regretting his choice. She’d probably think he looked like an elderly college professor when he was trying to look sophisticated. The only thing missing would’ve been black rimmed glasses and a sweater vest. Maybe he should lose the jacket? Well, too late now.

Glancing from the watch on his left wrist, to the door, then back to his watch again, he nervously rotated the base on the glass of water on the table top slowly between two fingers of his right hand. The tension made him very fidgety and ready to jump out of his skin. Time kept creeping closer to when she said she would be there even though he was at least maybe 15 minutes early.

They had agreed to meet at 1PM – just missing the lunch crowd but not too close to happy hour where there would be more of a crowd, but just enough time to spend together and re-connect. It was an unusual time, but it looked less seedy and inconspicuous being earlier in the day. It was just two people having a business meeting over cocktails, or in his case a glass of water.

He was, in a way bringing her there under false pretenses about wanting her input and started to feel bad about lying though she eagerly agreed when he suggested it. His mind kept going over what he’d say to her.

Knowing she could smell bullshit from a mile away the story had better be a good one to keep her there. If she saw through the lie then she was the kind of person to tear into him, walk away and not look back and he didn’t want to risk it. At least he had a while to concoct his story. Well, there was this musical idea he had lurking around for a while in the back of his mind involving aliens and the future. He hoped maybe it wouldn’t be too bizarre for her but somehow felt that she would be open to it and interested.

“Yes, that’s it” he muttered to himself.

Something in the muzak playing suddenly caught his attention and it stopped his musing. Rod Stewart’s raspy voice sang about a forbidden romance and his ears perked to listen.

“ _Come on angel my hearts on fire._  
 _Don’t deny your man’s desire._  
 _You’d be a fool to stop this tide._  
 _Spread your wings and let me come inside_ ”

Right then more memories sprang back to life from what, 20 years ago just like it was yesterday. Something about the song resurrected a certain one - the night of the cast party after the film had wrapped. It was also what led to the little treasure he held in his pocket.

“ _Tonight’s the night… It’s gonna be alright……_ ”

He reached into the inside pocket of the jacket touching the thick edge of the locking top of the bag. ‘ _Yes, it is still there_ ’ he thought. Earlier that morning, he went back to the trunk in his closet and took out the little plastic bag, placing it close to his chest for safe keeping. He wasn’t sure whether to give it to her or not. She’d probably not remember it and think he had lost his mind for keeping it.

“ _Don't say a word my virgin child_  
 _Just let your inhibitions run wild_  
 _The secret is about to unfold_  
 _Upstairs before the night's too old_ ”

Closing his eyes for a second he reminisced. She was a beautiful young actress just fresh into the business back then and he was a very seasoned vet in the entertainment industry. For her age he was very surprised at how mature she was and how intelligent. It also didn’t hurt that she was very beautiful, but she wasn’t the kind to be conceited about it. Her humbleness made him admire her more.

Obviously he was just a little more than smitten with his co-star than he should be but he knew not to act on any stupid impulses. For one it was illegal. So for the next few months of filming he kept himself in check and acted in a guardian or mentor capacity and no one was the wiser even though he may have had ulterior motives. It was hard but he managed even though the look on her face said she may have a crush on him too.

Listening to the rest of the song, letting it sink in he mused ‘ _didn’t Nabokov write a book about something like this?_ ’

The time came when the film was complete and everyone would be going their separate ways. After posing for all the publicity stills and several interviews, there was a huge cast party to celebrate.

Despite being one of lead characters, he had found himself sitting alone at a table close to the balcony, cigarette in hand and a glass of Beefeater gin in front of him staring at the life-sized cardboard cut-out of their figures. It was then when he heard her giggle and she bounded into the party ahead of her parents watchful eyes. She was like a ray of sunshine illuminating the room, animated and full of life.

He watched her make her way around the room politely talking with everyone who clamored for her attention, but her eyes kept searching the room – just like in the ballroom scene. Searching for him?

Another drink later he lost track of her and was unaware that someone had came up behind him. She leaned in to kiss his cheek, but it startled him, which caused him to move and she almost caught him fully on the lips. Had he turned one breadth of an inch, their lips would have touched. She was very, VERY close to them and he regretted not moving his face towards her a little quicker. A little more planning he could've made that happen and immediately felt like a dirty old man for even considering it.

Realizing how close she was to kissing him and that she left trace of the glossy pink lipstick which was just a few shades off from her natural color, on his face she blushed and immediately apologized.

“I’m so sorry David! I didn’t mean to…!” her exclamation trailed off quickly as she grabbed the extra napkin from off the table beside his glass of gin and delicately wiped it off of his face.

“I shouldn’t be wearing this much lipstick or this color! Mom said I was too young to wear it”.

“It’s quite alright. I think it suits you. The color, that is.” he said.

Looking at her, he thought that it actually complemented her fair skin and long, dark hair. She took the napkin and blotted it off her lips leaving an almost perfect shape of their fullness on them and laid it down on the table. They talked for a few more minutes before her father caught his eye and then hers.

Much too quickly the time came for her to leave and they both stood to hug each other before she departed. She reached for the napkin to throw it away but he was quicker than she was and snatched it up. Looking at her he winked as he folded it up and put it in the pocket of his suit coat over his heart patting it.

“This keepsake marks the kiss we never shared when we danced. The one that never happened, but should have.” he leaned in and whispered in her ear, staring directly into her eyes as he slowly drew back.

She tilted her head coyly and smiled at him. “A kiss that almost wasn’t?”

He put his finger to his lips and gave a low “Shhhh” –it was their secret - then she hugged him. They both stood there, eyes locked for a few moments and must have looked very guilty of something because her father walked over to protectively collect his daughter after she took too long saying goodbye to him. David realized then that her father must have been well aware of the rumors and his past reputation with the teenage girls and he couldn’t blame him for wanting to whisk her away from apparent danger. Jennifer though seemed to invite it.

They shook hands cordially, exchanged niceties and quickly her father ushered her out. She looked back over her shoulder and smiled at him and he winked at her. Just like that Jennifer was gone.

He kept the lipstick stained napkin all the years afterwards and was very proud of himself for his quick reaction. He felt that his decision to do that was very bloody clever.

Knowing that when she left they may never see that much of each other or if they may ever again he drew a deep breath and exhaled. He could still smell her perfume that lingered on his jacket when she hugged him. That night was probably one of the last few times they’d see each other in person. There were only a handful after that.

After losing track of each other for the most part when she was in school they would exchange letters occasionally to keep up. For the first few years afterwards he would send a bouquet of flowers to her on her birthday. Being as busy as he was the next few years after that, tours and such, the flowers and letters stopped. It was then that Iman came into his life and he would soon settle into domestic bliss.

In later years when the age of technology advanced he found himself browsing the Internet during the day or even up late at night and would run across one of the pictures and sit and stare at her face and always wondered what she had been up to all of those years. Probably best that he didn't think about her. It kind of made him sad that maybe he didn't wait a little bit and then pursue her when she was at least a few years older.

In the meantime he had gotten married and had a very lovely wife and a daughter and she got married as well and had a couple of children. It's still didn't stop his mind from wondering about her and what the possibilities could have been.

Years passed and until the day he talked to Brian Henson he had simply just let things be. And then all of a sudden she was back in his life again.  
And they were meeting TODAY.


End file.
